Father Renaud is a French Catholic priest and the headmaster for the North Dakota Boarding School for Native Americans. He is cruel and abusive, using corporal punishment and torture on both students and faculty.
Character Biography[]
1923[]
He is first seen in his office after Teonna's attack on Sister Mary. He reprimands Sister Mary for her excessive cruelty, making her recite a Bible verse as he slaps her arms with the same level of cruelty she exuded on Teonna. He then turns to Teonna, where he remarks that he may have compassion, he has no mercy for her violence. He then ruthlessly slaps her with a ruler as well.
Nature's Empty Throne[]
Father Renaud has Teonna taken to spend the night in the hotbox outside as punishment due to her violence during dinner when she refused to eat maggot-infested food. He condescendingly talks down to Teonna, calling her Crow language filth and that he will not tolerate it in his school. When the morning comes, she is released from the hotbox and is taken with fever.
Ghost of Zebrina[]
In the morning, he discovers that Sister Mary and Sister Alice have been murdered. He confronts her close friend Baapuxti in his office. She is ruthlessly interrogated, torturing her with beatings. She refuses to tell him where Teonna has escaped to, speaking for the final time in her Crow language. Enraged, Father Renaud beats her to death, stomping on her skull. He has her body wrapped in cloth and buried in an unmarked grave off the school premises. He sends Brother Romero, Brother Liam, and Brother Cillian after Teonna.
Nothing Left to Lose[]
When the priests haven't returned to the school in a week, he enlists the help of the Marshal to help him track down Teonna. They come across the bodies of the priests and discover that Teonna did not act alone. With the Marshal, they deduce that Teonna may be escaping to the South where she would be able to blend in the Comanches. They decide to take the train to get there before she does, and ride off.